Tool blank



G. C. WHARTON April 8, 1941.

TOOL BLANK Filed April 1, 1940 13771621207) 912' fi. Wharion, 35i??? Gear 1 Patented Apr. 8, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOOL BLANK Application April 1, 1940, Serial No. 327,142

1 Claim.

This invention relates to the manufacture of tools such as rakes which have a head supported from the handle by arms in the form of a bow, and the object is to provide for the economical formation of such supporting means as an integral part of the head without the necessity of rolling, forging or welding operations.

My invention will be well understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein-- Fig. 1 is a plan of a blank suitable for forming two rakes;

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing a later stage in the manufacture; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective of a finished rake.

Referring to Fig. 3, I there show a bow rake having a head provided with the cross-bar 6 from which project the teeth 8 and from the end of which bar extend the arms which curve rearwardly and inwardly and unite terminally to form a tang l2 or its equivalent providing for the attachment of the usual wooden handle. In the manufacture of rakes of this type it has long been the practice to provide from a steel blank a pair of projections or short strips which are rolled out to form the arms which are then bent into shape and terminally Welded together to form a tang. While this process is economical of material, it requires much manipulation and the labor cost is high. The object of the present invention is to provide a simple method for forming the bows and tang using only a reasonable amount of metal and eliminating these expensive operations.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a symmetrical blank from which two rakes may be formed and which provides for economizing material by nesting the teeth in the manner indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, a feature not claimed as such as a part of the present invention. Either the upper or the lower half of Fig. 1 will equally well exemplify the novel features. The blank is cut from suitable sheet metal of a thickness corresponding to that of the finished rake and having a generally rectangular head-forming portion designated in Fig. 1 by the numeral 6 since the edge thereof forms the bar 6 in the completed rake. Cut from the same sheet and organized in a zone at the side of the head-forming part B, which zone is much narrower than the depth of the bows and tang in the finished rake, are how and tang forming parts which are of a length and crosssection substantially those of the finished bow and tang but which are organized in pressed together or coacted relation to permit them to be cut from the narrow zone referred to. Herein the arm in at the upper left and lower right of the blank rises from one end of the head-forming portion 6, extends rearwardly for a short distance and then bends over and runs parallel to the side of the blank closely adjacent thereto and thence continues in the same general direction to form the tang I2. The other bow-forming portion at the left in the upper portion of Fig. 1 and at the right in the lower portion is of the same length and rises similarly from the opposite end of the head-forming portion 6 and joins the base of the tang l2. However, as its length is markedly greater than the horizontal distance, viewing Fig. 1, between the location of the base of the tang and the point where it rises from the head, it is first bent over sharply as shown and then continued, horizontally in the figure, parallel to the tang portion, flanking the same between the tang l2 and the body 6, and is then reversely bent to join the base of the tang. The parts [0 and 12 in this relatively convoluted or contorted relation are all received within the projected outlines of the body 6 and the second bow-forming part ll] at the upper left of Fig. l is received within the projected outlines of the first part ID while the latter is disposed closely adjacent the body 6 and consequently all these parts are cut out from a relatively narrow strip of metal lateral to the head-forming portion 6 and with a minimum of waste.

Referring now to the lower portion of Fig. 1, it will be apparent that if the tang i2 is seized and wrested downwardly and toward the left in the figure and moved into a position perpendicular to the length of the blank and considerably spaced therefrom, the bow-forming portions l5), III, will straighten out, assuming the regular curved. form indicated in Fig. 2.

The teeth are then formed in the part 6 in any suitable way, in the case of a duplex blank as shown preferably by cutting them in the manner indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 wherein the teeth of one rake are nested between those of the other. The bows are then bent over to give them their desired angular relation of the head or the entire rake curved if a rake of the curved type is in question, thereby producing with a minimum of labor a rake, as shown in Fig. 3, ready for handling.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof,

and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and .not restrictive; reference being had to the appended claim rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim:

A blank for a tool of the type having a transverse head supported at the extremities of the arms of a bow which has a central tang, which blank comprises a metal sheet of substantially finished thickness having a head-forming portion, a bow arm portion which rises from an end thereof, extends along an edge of the head-forming portion in closely spaced relation thereto and terminates in a tang-forming extension, and a second bow arm portion of like length to the first which rises from the opposite end of the head forming portion and extends in spaced relation thereto to the base of said extension and which is convoluted in its length to lie within the rearwardly projected outline of the head-forming portion and the laterally projected outline of the first bow arm portion, whereby on wresting the tang extension to a position transverse to the length of the head-forming portion and rearwardly therefrom a symmetrical tanged bow is formed.

GEORGE C. WHARTON.

'Patent No. 2,257,722.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

April 19in.

GEORGE c. WHARTON,

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1, second column, line 2, for '-'coacted" read --coarcted; and that the said Letters Patent shouldbe read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and seal ed this 15th day of May, D. l9lil,

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

